Bluestone's track of the Day: Down South Blues

Down South Blues has a catchy slide lead.  The main riff is played throughout most of the song and some soloing is mixed in.  What I like about this one is that it's a a lonely blues; "I woke up this mornin' and I found my baby gone," but it's hopeful, as well; "I'm goin' down South child, the weather here's too cold."  Things are gonna get better.  I can listen to this one when I just want music, when I'm crying, or when I'm drinking.  It's got every different vibe to it, and it sounds good too.  Listen to it!

Bluestone's Track of the Day: Blue Guitar

The Chicago bluesman Earl Hooker, born in 1929, was a master of the slide.  He played a lot of open tunings and mixed finger soloing in with his slide.  B.B. King said, "To me he is the best of modern guitarists. Period."  That's a fine compliment coming from a man like B.B. 
The instrumental, Blue Guitar, has a fine piano and brass section, but Hooker's lead guitar takes the cake.  He plays mostly a classic blues solo and he plays it so well, throwing in a couple wild slides to make it his own.  Hooker was born in Mississippi, but came to Chicago and picked up his style at the age of one.  He didn't move because of a record signing, it was his parents' choice, but he was clearly destined to be great.  Hooker grew up with Bo Diddley and was greatly influenced by T-bone Walker.  Hooker began his career in 1946 by touring through the South with Robert Nighthawk and his band.  Here's a version of Blue Guitar with Junior Wells.

Earl was a real showman, watch him live here, playing with his teeth!

Bluestone's Track of the Day: All Blues

All Blues first appeared on Miles Davis' album Kind of Blue in 1959.  This is a jazzier tune but it is a blues.  It's a regular progression excluding the bVI chord which replaces the normal V.  Kenny Burrell is my favorite jazz guitarist to date.  He does a great guitar arrangement here of All Blues.


My other favorite tunes by Kenny Burrell include Soul Lament and his take on Girl Talk.

Bluestone's Track of the Day: Stormy Monday

I chose this track so we could talk a little bit about Eva Cassidy, likely my favorite female vocalist.  She's really a folk singer, but she does Stormy Monday, so welcome to Champagne n' Reefer.  Cassidy's first album wasn't released until 1992 and she died four years later.  From what I've heard, she was virtually unknown when she died in 1996, but has come into much more popularity since then.  Her biggest song, Over The Rainbow, got exposure in the UK three years after its release, where it blew up.  She also topped charts in a few other countries.  Read more about her here.
And now for a little bit about Stormy Monday.  Stormy Monday was released by T-bone Walker in 1947 and became a blues standard, recorded by artists including Albert King, B.B. King, Bobby Bland, Buddy Guy, and Eva Cassidy.  Stormy Monday reached #5 on the charts and supposedly inspired B.B. King to pick up the electric guitar.  They call it stormy Monday, oh but Tuesday's just as bad...
Stormy Monday, T-bone
Stormy Monday, Eva Cassidy
Stormy Monday, Albert King
Stormy Monday, B.B. King
Stormy Monday, Buddy Guy
Here are a few more tracks from Eva Cassidy - Ain't No Sunshine, Fever, Wade in the Water, Wayfaring Stranger, The Letter, Over the Rainbow, all worth listening to!

Bluestone's Track of the Day: The Thrill Is Gone

This one couldn't wait any longer.  I've been hesitant to write a post about The Thrill Is Gone because I don't know what I can say to do it justice, or what I can say about it that hasn't already been said.  It is one of the greatest songs ever written.  Roy Hawkins' original version of this song was a minor hit in 1951.  He, supposedly, wrote it with Rick Darnell, but according to a YouTube comment I found, Hawkins only put Darnell's name on the track so he would help produce it; doesn't sound unlikely.  Anyways, B.B. King first recorded The Thrill Is Gone for his 1969 album Completely Well.  In 1970, the song reached #3 on the Billboard Singles.  The Thrill Is Gone eventually earned the 183rd spot on Rolling Stones' 500 best songs ever and won B.B. King a Grammy award.  So many memorable versions of this song have been recorded, but here are just a few.
The Thrill Is Gone...
Completely Well
With Eric Clapton
Live in 1970
Live in 2001

Bluestone's Hip-Hop Track of the Day

I found this on another blog, looks like we were behind the curve here because this is not only an awesome track, but it has everything to do with rap and blues, at the same time. Listen to Born 2 Sin.  Bad News Brown is definitely a hip-hop artist, but not just a rapper.  He has rhythm and style, he's creative, he's makin' real music.  I like what B.o.B. has been doing, trying to really sing and add some soul to hip-hop; this is what Bad News Brown does, only Bad News does it better.  Check him out at http://badnewsbrown.com/.  Go out and buy his stuff, do what you gotta do to support him.  Check him out first here on Champagne n' Reefer.

Bluestone's Track of the Day: Whiskey Blues

Here's a slide tune from Muddy, called Sittin' Here Drinkin' or Whiskey Blues or something like that.  So far, from Muddy, I've shared My Home Is In The Delta, Baby Please Don't Go, and Champagne and Reefer, plus Hendrix's cover of Mannish Boy.  Whiskey Blues is a lot like My Home Is In The Delta, not a lot like the others.  It's a true crying slide tune, no electric effects, just good old blues.  Whiskey Blues, another testament to Muddy's range and number of good songs, check it out.

Bluestone's Track of the Day: Blues Before Sunrise

This tune has a piano, a lead guitar, a rhythm guitar, and some brass, but it has the vibe of a country blues.  John Lee Hooker lived from 1917 to 2001, and he was from Mississippi, where he began as a sharecropper.  He developed a kind of talking blues style, where he plays a lick then the only accompaniment to the lyric is the tapping of his foot.  Hear it here in his famous Boom Boom.  Lightnin' Hopkins does some good talking blues, too, like I'm Beggin' You.  Lightnin's kind of talkin' blues is even a bit more sparse than Hooker's, which I like.  They build this real relationship between the singer and the guitar, where the guitar's voice is no more valuable nor abundant than the spoken word, but I digress.  Blues Before Sunrise is a sincere tune.  Hooker got a little mannish with some of his songs and sounded like Muddy Waters, but not here.  Blues Before Sunrise is somewhere between Lightnin' and Muddy (not a bad couple o' guys to be between.)  It's just the right balance of sadness and hope, it's the right balance of music and lyrics, the right balance of guitar and piano.  It's a delicately put together blues that could not have been done better.  I chose the above photo of Hooker with purpose.  He usually plays a hollow body jazz guitar, but he has an acoustic here.  I don't know what he really plays Blues Before Sunrise with, but I picture it as an acoustic, simple and sincere.

Bluestone's Track of the Day: Driftin' Blues

Today's track, Driftin' Blues, is from the smooth singin', sweet talkin' Charles Brown.  Brown moved out to Los Angeles at an early age, where the night club scene became his best order of business.  The best selling Driftin' blues came out in 1945, at a time when blues was gaining credibility as a classy art form.  Brown sings it smooth and gentle, he's of a slightly different breed than most blues singers.  He doesn't have any harshness in his music, he's more like a jazzman in my eyes.  But anyways, his Driftin' Blues is more than catchy, carried mostly by the piano, with a very simple guitar solo.
To hear my favorite version of this song, buy Best of the Blues: 50 Favorites on Amazon.com

Bluestone's Track of the Day: Baby Please Don't Go

Baby Please Don't Go is a blues standard and possibly the best tune ever written. It has been covered by innumerable artists and in countless different yet compelling ways. According to Wikipedia, the lyrics are derived from 20th century work songs Another Man Done Gone, Alabama Bound, Don't Leave Me Here, and Turn Your Lamp Down Low. As we already know, all blues are interconnected and derived from one another and so on and so forth and here and there and it's all the same. What is so special about this song? Don't ask me, because i couldn't tell you. Don't ask me why Bob Dylan was so successful with a terrible voice and sub par guitar skills. Don't ask me why Crank That by Soulja Boy was such a big hit. Some things are just good, they're appealing, the devil has some stake in them.
Supposedly Big Joe Williams' version was the first recorded (1935). I don't know which version he recorded first, but the one I have here is on a 9-string guitar with a first fret capo, and is absolutely brilliant. The video is a must watch. Big Joe is fat and passionate, he taps his foot, and he freakin' plays it. His vocals fade in and out in such a way that they blend together with his playing. I commented on Hendrix's blend of vocals and playing earlier; it's fascinating to note that parallel here in a completely different setting.

Van Morrison's version is a fast paced, full band blues rock. A lead guitar plays the melody over a simple bass, there's a harmonica, drums, and everything. Van sings it well, too. Although this is not how this tune began, it's well done.
Lightnin' Hopkins' version is played in typical Lightnin' fashion and is another knockout. He plays the melody then strums out a blues. Hopkins' is hilariously distant looking in this performance, but it's still good. The version recorded on his Blues Masters Compilation album of 2000 is also very good, different from the one here.
And here is Muddy Waters' version. He of course is the bridge that leads from Big Joe and Lightnin' to Van Morrison.  Not quite rock, but not an old fashioned blues. Check it out.

Bluestone's Track of the Day: Ghetto Woman

Here's a funky track from B.B. King called Ghetto Woman.  I heard this track first on Disc 3 of the King of the Blues set, released in 1992.  This disc is unreal, featuring The Thrill Is Gone and Hummingbird, as well.  This song is addicting; notice the posts on the YouTube video.  One person says he used to put this song on repeat and sit in the hot tub for hours, 'nuff said, just listen to Ghetto Woman!

Buy King of the Blues from Amazon.com

Bluestone's Track of the Day: Blues In The Ghetto

Here's a little something from Pee Wee Crayton, it's called Blues In The Ghetto.  Crayton was born in Texas in 1914, then went on to do most of his recording in San Francisco.  His mellow Blues After Hours reached #1 on the Billboard R&B chart in 1948, and his upbeat Texas Hop had great success, as well.  Blues In The Ghetto is just a catchy tune.  The rhythm section plays the exact same loop through the entire song, as far as I can tell, and it kind of drones on.  I think this is what Crayton intended to do, however, and why the song is titled the way it is.
Listen on Yahoo Music


Buy Early Hour Blues off Amazon.com

Bluestone's Track of the Day: Pride and Joy

Stevie Ray Vaughan was born in Dallas, Texas, in 1954.  He began playing guitar at an early age and dropped out of high school to move to Austin, Texas with his first band, Blackbird.  He was heavily influenced by Albert King, Otis Rush, Eric Clapton, and Jimi Hendrix, but he said, "Lonnie Mack really taught me to play guitar from the heart."  Vaughan died in a helicopter accident in 1990.

Pride and Joy was released as a single in 1983 and is on his double platinum album Texas Flood.  It's a Friday, so I wanted to post an upbeat tune.  SRV plays a fast paced, heavily electrified style in this track, as in most of his hits.  Pride and Joy has a distinct rhythm section, with a good baseline and fast SRV style lead.  He plays a great turn around, as well (following "She's my sweet little baby, I'm her little lover boy").  Basically, this blues makes you jump up, it's an all around great song.

Buy Album off Amazon.com: Texas Flood

Bluestone's Track of the Day: Om Shakti Om

Om Shakti Om was realeased on Trevor Hall's 2008 album This Is Blue. Trevor was born in South Carolina in 1986; he's a youngin for a bluesman. Well, he's not really a bluesman, but he has the voice and guitar chops for it, as seen in Om Shakti Om. Trevor's first record deal was with Geffen records, who dropped him before This Is Blue was released. He is, now, however, coming into more success than ever before. He has toured with artists including Matisyahu, Colbie Caillat, Ziggy Marley, and the Wailers. Trevor has taken a particular interest in India, to which he donates some of his profits, and has been inspired through meditation. His style is unique, an Ellis Island where reggae meets folk, percussion, and blues. Om Shakti Om is as basic of a blues tune as you will ever hear, but it's done perfectly; a simple, feel-good blues.
Trevor was schooled in classical guitar at Idyllwild Arts Academy in California, and you hear some of the fingerstyle techniques in his music today.
Listen to Om Shakti Om.
Buy this album on Amazon.com: This Is Blue

Bluestone's Track of the Day: My Home is in the Delta

McKinley Morganfield was born in 1915 in Rolling Fork Mississippi where he lived on Stovall Plantation, down in the Delta where the blues began. Morganfield's juke house was a hot spot for black farmers and white plantation owners alike; his fine moonshine may have had something to do with it, but nonetheless, he began to come across some success in his mid 20's (the early 1930s). Morganfield was first recorded by Alan Lomax. Lomax came through his town and offered $10 per song for recordings on aluminum discs. Morganfield took the offer; he played a steel guitar and used a true bottleneck as a slide. A broken bottle and cold, hard steel; this was the Delta. This was home to all of the early, great bluesmen, but the blues wouldn't stay there forever. Producers like Lomax brought the finest talent from the South up to Chicago for proper recordings. Charley Patton, Son House, and countless others were part of this movement, but in my opinion, none as influential as Morganfield. Morganfield first moved to Chicago in 1940, where he would eventually electrify and evolve the Delta blues without losing its raw quality. When Morganfield initially began recording in Chicago he played a reserved style, with no passion, and with no bottleneck. Chicago was intimidating. Morganfield said "I got off that train and it looked like this was the fastest place in the world." He quickly realized, however, that although he had left his home in the Delta, he could not leave his music; he had to stay true to it, which is exactly what he did. In 1947, he signed with Chess Records (called Aristocrat at the time) and played the way he always had. As the electric guitar evolved, so did Morganfield. He began recording music that would have a great influence on rock and roll, as well as blues, but he never forgot where he came from. Most of you probably know Morganfield better as Muddy Waters, christened by his grandmother for his messy play, and here is his My Home is in the Delta:
Listen to My Home Is In The Delta
Fun fact about Muddy: His MOJO that he so often speaks about comes from the Louisiana Mojo Hand. A Mojo Hand was a little red flannel bag pierced with needles that was used to curse your opponents in gambling. It could be purchased from a "doctor", and Muddy says he really believed in them.

This song has been played by many artists including Mississippi Fred McDowell. None play it better than Muddy, but many play it well. Here is another artist from YouTube: Scott Ainslie. Neither his playing nor his voice are perfect, but he plays with passion and, for a white guy, he is as close to capturing the Delta as you can find.

Bluestone's Track of the Day: St. James Infirmary

St. James Infirmary is a "New Orleansy" tune said to be based on an English folk song called The Unfortunate Rake, but has changed and evolved over the years. The real author of the song is unknown, although sometimes Joe Primrose (1894-1985) is credited with its current lyrics. There are, however, many verses which artists pick and choose. The song has been recorded most notably by Louis Armstrong, Allen Toussaint, Cab Calloway, and Bobby Bland. More recently, the Doors and the White Stripes have covered it, as well. A less well known version, but my personal favorite nonetheless, is that of Snooks Eaglin. Eaglin plays a one guitar arrangement of the song, but it can be led by a trumpet, as well, played with a full jazz band, or anything in between. Snooks Eaglin (1936-2009) was a versatile guitarist from New Orleans. Eaglin claimed that he could play some 2,500 songs off the top of his head. Eaglin's version of St. James was published on his New Orleans Street Singer album of 1959. His guitar playing is good and his vocals are even better for the song.

The St. James Hospital in London closed in 1532, but the song is still being recorded today. Here, I have also included a cover by Kane Muir. He plays a one guitar arrangement of the song on a classical guitar. Muir is an Englishman who apparently plays at open mics and does small gigs, but I have come across him on YouTube. Most of his music is not blues, but his rendition of St. James is dark and brilliant.